ASX 200 up 6 to 7529 (0.07%). Good fight back from early lows.

  • HIGH  7529 LOW 7440. More volatility. Closes on highs.

MAJOR MOVERS:

Winners: HCW, CXO, LTR, INR, AAC, ABB, FFX

Losers: HSN, DEG, TPW, CTT, PME, AVZ, PLS

  • POSITIVE SECTORS: Banks. Gold miners. Industrials. Tech
  • NEGATIVE SECTORS: Iron ore miners. Base metal and lithium
  • BIG BANK BASKET: Rises to $185.12
  • ALL -TECH INDEX: Up 0.6% APT up 1.7%
  • GOLD: Better at AUD2459
  • BITCOIN: Higher at US$51648
  • AUD:  Firms to 74.4c
  • 10-YEAR YIELD: Rises to 1.22%
  • ASIAN MARKETS: Tokyo up 1.28%, Hong Kong up 0.84% and China up 1.19%
  • US FUTURES: Dow futures Up 48, NASDAQ up 34. US Equity and Bond markets closed

ASX 200 fights back from over 80 down to close up 6 points to 7529. FMG ex-dividend is nearly 20 points negative alone. Across the board, bargain hunters stepped back in with the banks doing well up to $185.12 for the Big Bank Basket. Industrials and healthcare also turned around as CSL rose 0.6%, GMG up 0.9% and TLS rebounded 1.3%. Iron ore stocks were a little on the nose, FMG fell 10.9% on its dividend. BHP and RIO drifted lower and losses in lithium stocks as PLS placement depressed prices. Oil and gas shares fell with STO down 1.8% and WPL off 1.7%. Tech stocks were better with APT up 1.7% following Square higher and Z1P up 3.0%. In corporate news, ABB is pushing into key regional Victorian towns up 7.7%, BGH a private equity form walked from its HSN takeover and it fell 9.2% and MIN sold out of PLS rocking it 5.3% lower. On the economic front, MI’s headline inflation gauge was unchanged over the month but up 2.5% over the year. ANZ job ads for August fell 2.5% to 195,995 available positions. The second contraction after 13 consecutive months of improvement.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

  • INR +8.33% no more sending me dead flowers?
  • LTR +8.46% Macquarie research piece.
  • TYR +5.33% update #77. Adddition to ASX 200.
  • ABB +7.67% fibre deal swap with VicTrack to launch business fibre services in key regional Victorian towns.
  • FMG -10.94%% ex-dividend accounts for 20 index points.
  • HSN -9.24% BGH walks.
  • DEG -6.49% bucking higher gold prices.
  • PME -5.84% broker downgrade.
  • CTT -5.99% profit-taking.
  • BBT -21.66% US set back with Virginian licence.
  • OSH/STO -2.35% and -1.76% DD extended.
  • PDI -16.98% Guinea coup.
  • KNI -14.55% some hot air escaping.
  • AGE +31.11% uranium play.
  • HT1 -3.44%% Luxury Escapes may be sold
  • IPO of the Day: Home Consortium (HMC)’s Healthcare and Wellness REIT (HCW) +16.00% made a positive debut. HMC raised $650m for the trust which has 27 medical hubs, private hospitals, childcare centres, aged care and life sciences and government facilities. This is the third IPO in three years as the manager goes from REIT to asset manager.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Eastern Iron (EFE) +123.08%, not bad volume after the company announced a MOU with Yahua to acquire and develop lithium projects.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Pilbara Minerals (PLS) -5.31% holder Mineral Resources (MIN) – Sells 160m-share block, its entire stake, representing a ~5.4% holding, to JPMorgan which was then seeking to sell on to institutional investors. JPMorgan was understood to be looking for bids between 205c to 215c. In other news, PLS provided a lithium project update; Notes a substantial increase in Pilgangoora Resource to 309Mt.
  • Sydney Airport (SYD) -0.13% Speculation that the IFM-led consortium may be holding off on further bids for Sydney Airport. SYD’s share price has recently rallied, pressuring the IFM-led consortium to lift its offer past 845c
  • Westpac (WBC) -0.12% Understood to have further delayed its BT Panorama wealth platform sale until 2022. The Panorama system is understood to have gone down for up to seven days in recent weeks and Westpac may be looking to put some distance between that event and the rumoured ~$100-200m sale.
  • Mirvac (MGR) -0.64% Looking to sell Allendale Square in Perth for ~$250m.
  • Premier Investments (PMV) +1.07% Notes incoming CEO Richard Murray to commence in the role sooner than previously expected, starting today, several weeks ahead of schedule.
  • Hansen Technologies (HSN) -9.24% BGH Capital withdraws its unsolicited proposal to acquire Hansen Technologies following due diligence. BGH Capital continues to see Hansen as a highly effective organisation with an outstanding management team and strong prospects. BGH has not identified any material issues for the business. Hansen Chairman comments, “Significant new business wins, coupled with a continued focus on our aggregation strategy, reinforce our commitment to, and confidence in, our long-term revenue target of $500m in FY25.
  • News Corp (NWS) -1.48% To begin a company-wide campaign promoting the benefits of a carbon-neutral economy from mid-October. The business is understood to be feeling pressure from its major advertisers and its efforts to attract a greater subscriber base for some of its premium content.
  • Washington H. Soul Pattinson (SOL) -1.75% Guides FY21 regular profit from continuing operations between $316-336m vs year-ago $170m.
  • Incitec Pivot (IPL) – 1.12%CFO Nick Stratford to step down to pursue other opportunities.
  • Cleanaway (CWY) +1.87% ACCC delays making a final decision on Cleanaway’s proposed acquisition of certain Suez post-collection waste assets in Sydney
  • Magellan Financial Group (FMG) –0.64% Funds under management (FUM) at the end of August $117.96bn vs month-ago $117.03bn.
  • Oil Search (OSH) -2.35% and Santos (STO) – 1.76% Agree to extend the exclusive due diligence period to September 13.
  • BlueBet (BBT) -21.66% Withdraws its application from Virginia Lottery. As part of its two-stage US entry strategy, BlueBet identified up to five priority states in the US for licences. There are also ten states where sports betting is legal but not yet operational and these are all being reviewed and assessed against BlueBet’s entry criteria including the timing of taking first bets post Q3 FY22.
  • ASX (ASX) -1.82% August volatility 0.4% vs year-ago 0.6%. Expected future volatility average of 11.4 vs year-ago 19.0. Total capital raised $7.8bn vs year-ago $4.95bn. Average daily number of trades +9% y/y. Total average daily value $6.42bn vs year-ago $6.21bn.
  • Brickworks (BKW) +1.17% Reports impacts of WHSP market guidance; FY21 uplift expected to contribute $64-72m to statutory profit for year-end 31 July 2021
  • Brambles (BXB) ).90% Proposes a 12-month extension to the on-market share buyback program at AGM.

MARKET NEWS/ BOND MARKETS

ECONOMIC DATA

  • Melbourne Institute Inflation gauge for August: Headline inflation unchanged over the month but up 2.5% over the year. Trimmed mean inflation down 0.1% in the month but up 2.3% on the year.
  • ANZ job ads for August fell 2.5% to 195,995 available positions.
  • The second contraction after 13 consecutive months of improvement.

CV19 NEWS

  • NZ lifts lockdown outside Auckland. Proving you can eliminate the Delta variant after all.
  • Singapore has tightened its border rules from most countries to try and curb CV19 cases.
  • Vaccine Tracker: 5.48bn doses in 182 countries. What happened to #183? In Australia, 275,434 doses a day and another 2 months until 75% of the population are covered.

ASIAN MARKETS

  • Chinese Vice Premier Liu He has pledged to continue supporting private businesses despite recent regulatory measures.
  • Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono was the favourite to become Japan’s next PM.
  • ‘Inflation’ has the most mentions in earnings calls since 2003. Cost increases mentioned 282 times so far this results season in Asia.

US AND EUROPEAN NEWS

  • US markets closed tonight.
  • Bitcoin pumping ahead of El Salvador officially kicking it off as legal tender.
  • Guinean soldiers claim to have overthrown President Conde.
  • UK Bank of England’s new policymaker Catherine Mann says inflation, this time it is different. From the 70s. Four key differences include wages and prices indexed, rapid change to oil pricing, company reluctance to raise prices, and much stronger relationship between wages and labour tightness.

And finally….

An old married couple are in church one Sunday… when the woman turns to her husband and says, “I’ve just let out a really long, silent fart. What should I do?” The husband turned to her and says, “Replace the battery in your hearing aid.”

A poacher was recently in court for shooting ducks. The judge asked, “How do you plead?””Not guilty, Mallard!”

Clarence

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